When Dowling and Limestone square off for the third time in less
than 10 months on Saturday, the stakes will be low. Yes, the
Sportsman's Cup — the rivalry trophy between these two
schools — is up for grabs, but that's about it. It certainly
pales in comparison to the national championship game last spring
and, with the new Division II men's postseason format, it won't
have the potential impact that last year's regular season finale
held, either.

But it is a title rematch. Just like the Maryland-Loyola redux
on Saturday, that makes it important for fans of the division, even
if the coaches are taking it for what it is.

Both Dowling's Tim Boyle and Limestone's J.B. Clarke referred to
the contest as "just another part of the journey." They aren't
trying to be anti-climactic. It's just that rivalries may carry
over from year to year, but teams do not.

"We're concentrating on us," Clarke said. "We're barely even
talking about Dowling. Not because we don't respect them or don't
think they're terrific. But because it would all be guessing. We're
going to do what we do and see how it matches up with Dowling."

"It's a totally different scenario right now," added Boyle.
"We're a very different team, they're a very different team. It'll
be a cool atmosphere and the fact that three of our last four games
will be against them adds something. But it comes down to the fact
that they are two separate seasons. We have the 2013 team and we
had to replace a lot. I'm sure they did, too. We're still working
on replacing what we lost and building back up."

Both teams are replacing key players all over the field. Vito
DeMola, the hero of the national championship game, has graduated
from Dowling. The same is true of Limestone's Shayne Jackson, who
is now running the show for the Minnesota Swarm of the NLL. Both
goalies from last year's meetings have departed and the defenses
have been reconstructed. The only true constant has been at the
faceoff position, where both programs boast one of the best in the
game.

In the first meeting last year, Limestone's Jake Ternosky held a
slight advantage (12-of-22) over Dowling's Louis Riley, and the
Saints won, 15-7. In the title game, it was Riley with the marginal
edge (14-of-25) and the Lions came out on top, 11-10. The two
seniors will once again be battling for a team victory, but also
regular-season long bragging rights about who's the best in
D-II.

"Jake knows Riley, and Riley knows Jake," Clarke said. "If you
combined the faceoff from both games, it was basically a dead heat.
Splitting would be just fine. I think either coach would take
splitting. If you get a few extra, you get a couple of extra
possessions, and it's huge. [Riley is] a special player, and we
think Jake is, too. All eyes will be out there on those guys."

"We've talked a little bit about it, but I'm sure Lou and Jake
are real excited about this battle," Boyle said. "Jake got the best
of him on May 6, and Lou got the best of him a little bit in the
championship game. It was real tight. It was just a couple of
faceoffs each way. It's going to be a tough battle and I'm sure Lou
is going to be excited."

One of the natural human emotions for the Limestone players will
be to seek revenge for last year's loss in the title game, no
matter how inconsequential a February game might be.
Clarke is going to concentrate less on revenge and more on
ratcheting up the intensity.

"I just want to get them excited to play," he said. "Friday
night down in Tampa, our guys were just very excited to play. That
emotion led to speed and effort and, quite frankly, a toughness I
wasn't sure we had. That's what we'll try to do. We talk about
taking the excitement from games like these and putting it into how
fast you play. We're going to have to do that Saturday."

Likewise, Boyle isn't worried about defending a championship. He
wants to immerse his players — especially the rookies on the
roster — into what they can expect this season from every
opponent on the schedule.

"We've been telling them all along that they have a target on
their backs, even the new guys on the team," he said. "Everyone
wants to knock you off, no matter who it is. It showed in the scrimmages in the fall.
Everybody wants a crack at you, you've got to be prepared for it
and you have to be able to handle it. Whether you come out on top
is neither here nor there, but you've got to be able to handle
that. You have to keep yourself composed and compete. That's what
we're looking for. Hopefully we'll be successful."

Ultimately, Dowling and Limestone will be judged this year on
how they do in their respective conferences and against teams in
their own region as opposed to this game. The two teams are very
different than the combatants who mesmerized us twice last May.
And, yes, they have different approaches entering this contest.

But, deep down in places they won't talk about, each team wants
this game badly. And everybody knows it.